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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753281">Dropping Lower</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeeter_110/pseuds/Skeeter_110'>Skeeter_110</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Based on a True Story, But no actual miscarriage, F/M, Female Tony Stark, How Do I Tag, Peter Parker is Steve Roger's Biological Child, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Pregnant Tony Stark, Steve Rogers is a good husband, Superfamily (Marvel), Superhusbands (Marvel), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, i don't really know how to tag this, non-graphic birth scene, talks of miscarriage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:28:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,926</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26753281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeeter_110/pseuds/Skeeter_110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Toni and Steve are fully prepared and ready to welcome their new bundle of joy in the next month. Unfortunately, said bundle of joy had other plans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Steve Rogers, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>187</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Dropping Lower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So it's my birthday today!! And I don't know why, but I decided to project my very dramatic birth story onto our three favorite characters. (Also ignore if the medical terminology is wrong, I'm just going based on what my mom told me)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Are you sure you're going to be okay going alone?" Steve asks Toni, who just shook her head, amused with how hesitant her husband was about this.</p><p>"Steve, we've already talked about this, I'll be fine. Fury will practically grow another eye in frustration if you don't head into SHIELD today." Toni tells him, finishing off the rest of her breakfast.</p><p>"Well, in that case it seems like I would be doing him a favor by not coming in." Steve retorts, not being able to stop the smile that was beginning to form; especially when it made Toni laugh.</p><p>"Yeah, well, if you feel you could explain your reasoning and have him actually believe it, then you can come with." Toni says, giving a small smile when she saw the hesitance form once again over Steve's face.</p><p>"We'll be fine, Love." Toni comforts, wrapping her arms around Steve's neck. Steve instinctively placed his hands on her hips, rubbing her swollen stomach with his thumbs.</p><p>"I just hate missing baby appointments. Especially because we only have one more after this." Steve grumbles.</p><p>"Babe, it's going to be fine. You're not really going to be missing anything; it's just going to be the same old thing. As long as you make it to the next one, we're fine." Toni tells him.</p><p>"Yeah, I guess you're right." Steve sighs.</p><p>"Of course I'm right."</p><p>"You know, it's funny to think that he's going to be born on Thanksgiving." Steve chuckles after a bit of silence, very obviously trying to stall a bit longer. </p><p>"Yeah, it's kind of cool that both my boys are going to born on holidays." Toni agrees, pecking Steve on the lips after. "Okay, so I need to start heading out."</p><p>"Call me when you get there, please; and call me afterwards too. I want to know everything the doctor says." Steve says, lightly squeezing Toni's hips before letting her go.</p><p>"I will, but I promise you it's just going to be the same thing the doctor has been saying for the past couple of months." Toni reassures before giving him one more kiss and exchanging farewells. "Everything is going to be fine."</p>
<hr/><p>Everything was not fine. </p><p>The ultrasound technician had looked at the ultrasound for only a few minutes, before saying that she needed to get the doctor and then promptly leaving. All Toni could do was sit there, trying to choke down the overwhelming anxiety she was feeling. </p><p>This has never happened before. </p><p>Toni couldn't stop her spiraling thoughts form running through her head, every single worse-case scenario possible coming to mind. The only thing that brought her attention back to the world around her was the sound of the door opening back up.</p><p>Toni looked over, seeing another doctor walk in along with the technician from before. </p><p>"Hello, Mrs. Stark-Rogers, I'm Doctor Ron and I'm going to preform a fetal echocardiogram just to make sure that the little one's heart is as should be. Don't worry, though, it's the exact same as an ultrasound." The doctor says, sitting down where the technician was sitting earlier and picking up the wand. </p><p>The machine screen was purposely moved out of the way so Toni couldn't see the screen, which did nothing to quell her panic. There was clearly something wrong but they weren't telling her what and it was driving her insane.</p><p>"Is there something wrong?" Toni asks once the silence begins to drag on for too long. </p><p>"Mrs. Stark-Rogers, it appears that your baby's heartrate is dropping. We're not sure why, but it could be potentially dangerous for your baby so I highly recommend you go to the nearest hospital. They can help you more than we can." Doctor Ron explains. Toni just blinked at him for a bit, feeling like her brain was short-circuiting. </p><p>"Wha- What is making his heartrate drop?" Toni finally manages to ask.</p><p>"We're not sure, it could be a number of things. Which is why I recommend you go to the hospital; although I can't force you, of course." The doctor repeats, making the fog in Toni's head clear up.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, okay." Toni says, the doctor giving her a smile before wishing her well and leaving.</p><p>"I'll give you time to clean up." The technician says, handing Toni some paper towels to use to wipe the gel off of her stomach. Toni gave a small smile as she took the towels, waiting until she was alone to let the tears fall. </p><p>Two minutes. She was going to give herself two minutes to cry, and then she was going to toughen up, call Steve, and head to the hospital. Two minutes.</p><p>"What's going on in there, Buddy?" Tony asks her stomach, finally wiping the gel off of it. She wiped her tears right after, taking a deep breath before pulling down her shirt and walking out of the doctors office. </p><p>Time to call her husband and go to the hospital.</p>
<hr/><p>Steve and Natasha were walking down the hall at SHIELD, Steve laughing at the teasing he was getting from Nat. </p><p>"I'm telling you, I've never seen anyone as antsy as you were during that meeting, and I live in the same tower as your caffeine addicted wife." Nat continues to tease, making Steve snort. Before he could retort with something, Steve's phone began to ring, stopping both Avengers from walking down the rest of the hall.</p><p>"Speaking of the devil." Nat says making Steve roll his eyes fondly as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. </p><p>"Hey, honey, how was the appointment?" Steve answers.</p><p><em>"Steve, are you sitting down right now?"</em> Toni asks in lieu of answering, making Steve's heart sink almost instantly.</p><p>"Why, what's wrong? Is something wrong? Is Peter okay?" Steve rambles, the panic immediately setting in. </p><p><em>"Steve, something happened, but I need you to either sit down or promise you won't freak out."</em> Toni responds, Steve taking a deep breath in order to steel himself. <em>"I'm on my way to the hospital right now. The doctors noticed that Peter's heartrate was dropping and recommended that I go to the hospital just to make sure he was okay." </em>Toni explains once she was sure Steve was okay to hear it. </p><p>"Wha- His heart?" Steve wheezes.</p><p>"We don't know what's going on with it, that's why I'm going to the hospital." </p><p>"Okay. Okay, what hospital?" Steve asks, trying to seem at least a bit kept together.</p><p>"Queens Memorial." Toni responds.</p><p>"Alright, okay, I'll be there as soon as possible." Steve says before hanging up. After he pocketed his phone, Steve let out a shaky breath, putting his hands on top of his head in attempt to control his breathing. </p><p>"I have to go. Toni's at the hospital." Steve blurts out, all but running down the hall.</p><p>"Woah, wait, Steve, slow down for a second." Nat calls after him, running towards Steve and stopping him. "Calm down first and talk to me, what's going on?" </p><p>"Toni had to go to the hospital. She said that there was something wrong with the baby's heart and she had to go get it checked out and I don't know-" Steve rambles, being cut off by a sob bubbling up. "I have to go." Steve repeats, the only thing stopping him from dashing down the hall once again was the light grip Nat had on his arm.</p><p>"Okay, but I'm driving." Nat says, pining Steve down with a stare when it looked like he was going to argue. "You're in no condition to drive. And at least this way you can get all of your freak-out out of your system so you can be nice and calm for Toni." </p><p>Steve couldn't say that he could argue with Natasha's logic. He felt so frazzled and his mind was ping-ponging around so much that he was sure he wouldn't be able to focus much on actually driving safe. And he really did need to be calm for Toni; he couldn't afford to freak and stress her out more than she already probably was. </p><p>"Alright, then let's go."</p>
<hr/><p>Toni squeezed her eyes shut and just prayed that Steve was going to get there soon. </p><p>The doctor checked up on the baby once again, only to see that the heartrate continued to drop and barely raise to a normal rate before it dropped once again. Currently he was getting things ready to preform an amniocentesis, just to see if the baby's lungs were developed and figure out what their options were.</p><p>"I'm here! I'm here, Toni, I'm here." Steve's voice flutters through the room, making Toni snap her eyes open. Instantly she let out a shuddering breath, holding her arms out in a silent plea for Steve.</p><p>Without even thinking, Steve quickly walked over and wrapped her up in his arms, breathing her in. He could feel her shaking in his arms and he wanted more than anything to be able to take that fear away from her. </p><p>"I don't know what's happening, Steve." Toni whimpers. Steve just pulled back and wiped the few stray tears that managed to escape off Toni's cheeks.</p><p>"I know, Love. That's why we're here, so we can figure out what's going on." Steve says in an attempt to comfort her. "Are the doctors trying to do anything for it?"</p><p>"They're getting ready to preform an amniocentesis." Toni says, Steve furrowing his brow at the new serious-sounding word.</p><p>"Umm... English?" </p><p>"It's when they take this really long needle and stick it in my stomach so they can get some amniotic fluid and test whether or not Peter's lungs are developed. If they are developed, we'll have a lot more options to choose from." Toni explains. </p><p>"And what are our options?" Steve asks, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest at the anticipation. Before Toni could answer though, the doctor walked into the room, placing a bunch of supplies down on a tray.</p><p>"And you must be Mr. Stark-Rogers. I'm assuming you've been filled in." The doctor greets, holding his hand out for Steve to shake once he sat everything down. </p><p>"Yes, yeah, I am and I have been." Steve frantically answers while shaking the doctor's hand. </p><p>"Okay, so, would you prefer to be numbed up when this happens? You'll still feel slight cramping as the needle goes through the uterus, but you won't feel it pierce your stomach." The doctor asks, grabbing the numbing injection when Toni agreed to it.</p><p>"Alright, you might feel a slight pinch, but nothing to worry about; it won't be anything worse than what you would get at the dentist." The doctor warns before lifting Toni's shirt. Steve immediately held onto Toni's hand, wincing when he saw the thick needle disappear into Toni's swollen belly.</p><p>"Okay, so, we'll give that a little bit to start working." The doctor absentmindedly says as he places the syringe in the sharps bin. Steve lightly rubbed Toni's shoulder in attempt to comfort the both of them, Toni only being able to give a tiny smile in return.</p><p>"Can you feel this?" The doctor asks as he lightly pokes at Toni's stomach. Toni shook her head, her throat feeling too tight with emotions for her to verbally answer. "Great. So, like I said there will be a bit of cramping, but nothing too serious." The doctor reminds.</p><p>If Steve thought the first needle was big, he was not at all prepared for the needle that had to be used for the actual procedure. Apparently it didn't just bother Steve because as soon as Toni saw it she let out a low whimper and shut her eyes tightly.</p><p>Steve lightly squeezed Toni's hand, silently signaling that she could squeeze back. Neither Stark-Rogers could watch, neither wanting to see three inch needle disappear into Toni's skin. </p><p>"Alright, all done." The doctor announces as he pulls the needle out. "So we'll have your results in a few hours. Until then, try to relax, we'll give you some juice and crackers to make sure your blood sugar stays where we want it and we're going to keep you and the baby monitored." The doctor says before giving a smile and leaving. </p><p>Silence quickly filled the air, neither Stark-Rogers really knowing what to do. They both were still trying to process everything that was happening, the threat of losing their son hanging dangerously over their heads. </p><p>"How are you feeling?" Steve asks, hoping that Toni wasn't in pain on top of everything.</p><p>"I'm so sorry." Toni responds instead.</p><p>"No, Love, you have no reason to be sorry; this isn't your fault." Steve tries to reassure, brushing Toni's hair out of her face. </p><p>"Maybe it is. Maybe this is happening from years and years of not taking care of myself, of being an alcoholic for the longest time. Maybe it is my fault. Maybe it's my fault that our son has a bad heart." Toni says, choking on a sob right after. </p><p>"Maybe it's my fault. I was sick all the time as a child, I could have passed that down to Peter." Steve says, Toni shaking her head before Steve could even finish that sentence.</p><p>"It's not your fault. You couldn't control that."</p><p>"If it isn't my fault, then it couldn't possibly be your fault either. We don't know what's causing this, but the last thing you need to do was beat yourself up about it, okay?" Steve continues to reassure, smiling when it seemed to get through to Toni.</p><p>"Can you distract me until we get the results?" Toni asks, trying to ignore the loud alarm going off due to Peter's heartrate dropping once again.</p><p>"Sure. What do you want me to distract you with?" Steve asks, making sure to keep Toni in their own little bubble that they've created when a nurse runs in to check on them. </p><p>"Tell me about the meeting. What shade of black was Fury wearing today?" Toni questions, making Steve laugh before he dived into every single detail that happened.</p><p>Easily they were able to make a few hours pass, talking about anything and everything to try and distract from the disaster that was happening. Of course, they couldn't forget completely what was happening - not when a doctor or nurse was coming in every five minutes to check on them - but at least they were able to keep occupied until the doctor came back.</p><p>"Alright, so, I got the results and it does appear that your son's lungs are fully developed." The doctor tells them.</p><p>"So, what does that mean? What are our options?" Toni questions, wanting to know everything before making a decision.</p><p>"Well, you can do one of two things. You can either go home, and hope this passes, <em>or</em> we can begin to induce you here and send you to the hospital you planned on having your child at and you can give birth today." The doctor lays out. </p><p>Toni took a sharp breath in at those options. Neither one was preferable. If they went home and ignored the problem, that could risk their baby's life, but if Toni gave birth right now, she would still be risking their baby's life. </p><p>"What should we do?" Steve asks Toni as if she held the answers to everything. Which, yeah usually she did, but not now; not about this. </p><p>"I don't know. If I give birth now, he'll be born over a month early and we risk losing him, but if I don't, we still risk losing him." Toni says, attempting to blink the tears that formed in her eyes once again.</p><p>"What do you suggest we do?" Toni asks the doctor, his eyes widening a bit at being dragged into the decision making process. </p><p>"I-I'm not really supposed to give you my own personal opinion on things but... I just know that if I were to send you two home and something happened to that little baby I would never be able to forgive myself." The doctor admits, which was all Toni needed to make up her mind. </p><p>"I don't want to risk it. We would have a higher chance of him living if you were to induce me." Toni says, the doctor nodding at the response.</p><p>"I'll get everything arranged then." The doctor says before leaving.</p><p>"You said that Nat was here, right?" Toni asks Steve once they were alone.</p><p>"Yeah, she drove me here. Why?"</p><p>"Can you explain to her what's going on and ask her if she can go to the tower and grab things we're going to need?" Toni requests, Steve easily agreeing and getting up to do so.</p><p>"And, Steve?" Toni calls out right before he left the room. "We're having a baby." Toni says a little breathlessly, her mind still reeling a bit by how quickly everything was happening. It helped a bit when Steve smiled right back at her.</p><p>"We're having a baby."</p>
<hr/><p>Toni was exhausted. She had been in labor for twelve hours and no progress was being made.</p><p>The contractions felt like they were getting worse by the minute, but her water hasn't broke yet and she's been stuck at seven centimeters for way too long now. It doesn't help that - despite that they think she can't - Toni can hear the doctors and nurses talking about how it was beginning to get dangerous for the baby and how if he wasn't born soon, his heartrate would be so low that there was no way he was going to survive. </p><p>"Breathe, Love." Steve tries to soothe, rubbing Toni's back as she was taken over by another contraction.</p><p>"Steve, I swear, I love you, but if you tell me to <em>'breathe'</em> one more time, I'm going to punch you right in those perfect little teeth of yours." Toni grits out, Steve retracting his hand for a second before pushing Toni's sweat-dampened hair out of her face. </p><p>"I'm sorry, Tones, but I don't know what else to do in this situation. I kind of feel helpless." Steve admits, getting that kicked puppy look that instantly makes Toni feel guilty.</p><p>"No, it's fine, I'm sorry. I'm stressed, worried, and in pain; ignore me." Toni apologizes, sighing in relief when her contraction let up. "I just wish this would hurry up, we're wasting time that could be spent on helping Pete. Doesn't he understand that he needs to come out?" Toni says, aiming the last part at her swollen stomach. </p><p>"He probably doesn't understand the urgency, he still had a little over a month." Steve says, making Toni sigh. She really wishes they could have been doing this in a normal circumstance.</p><p>Before she could dwell on it for too long, another contraction came along, effectively wiping Toni's brain of all thoughts. Of course, that was when the nurse decided to walk into the room.</p><p>"Ooh, still going through it, huh? I'm just going to check and see if you've made any progress." The nurse says, making Toni roll back onto her back so she could check. "Okay, so it appears that you haven't made any progress, so what we're going to do is start preparing you for a C-section." The nurse determines. Toni let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was soon going to be over. </p><p>"We do have some time to wait, though, since we still have to get everything prepped-" Toni couldn't even stop the groan if she tried "-so I'm going to get someone to give you something to help with the pain until them. In the meantime, Dad, you can go down to the cafeteria, relax and get something to eat before you get scrubbed in." The nurse says before making her way back out of the room.</p><p>"She's right. You can go get something to eat, you haven't eaten dinner yet." Toni agrees. Steve just gave her a hesitant look, not wanting to leave his wife alone during all of this. On the other hand, Steve could practically feel his stomach eating itself.</p><p>"Are you sure about this?" Steve questions.</p><p>"Yes. You heard the nurse, it's going to be a while and the last thing we need is for you to pass out in there." Toni teases, lightly brushing his eyebrow with her thumb. "And at least this way you can inform the team what's happening. I'm sure the curiosity is eating at them."</p><p>"Okay, okay. I will be back as soon as possible, alright? I'm only going to eat and inform the team." Steve promises, leaning over and planting a kiss on her sweaty forehead before quickly making his way towards the cafeteria.</p><p>As he was in the elevator, he texted everyone that was there waiting for them, letting them know to meet him in the cafeteria, to which they all readily agreed.</p><p>Steve practically ran into the cafeteria when he got there, grabbing the first thing he saw and paying for it. He wanted to be in and out as soon as possible. </p><p>Mindlessly, he walked over to a table and sat down, opening up the container and taking out the sandwich that he had bought. He wasn't even tasting the sandwich as he began ate it, his mind swirling with a bunch of "what ifs?". It wasn't until people began sitting around him that he realized he zoned out and managed to eat half of the sandwich.</p><p>"Hey, guys." Steve greets, inwardly cringing at how tired he sounded.</p><p>"Hey, man." Sam says in return, Steve rubbing his face to avoid the concerned look everyone was sending him.</p><p>"How is she?" Natasha chimes in. </p><p>"Stronger than she's ever been." Steve answers, fully meaning it. He could never go through what Toni was going through and still manage to keep it all together. She was honestly the strongest person he knew. "They're prepping a room for a C-section because Toni wasn't making any progress and we've already spent a whole day figuring everything out; who knows if the baby's heart could wait any longer." </p><p>"Do they know why this is happening?" Clint asks, and wasn't that the million-dollar question?</p><p>"We won't know until he's born. Which, unfortunately will be a while longer because they have to get everything ready." Steve says, not even bothering to hide his exasperation.</p><p>"So, why did you get kicked out?" Clint teases, trying to relieve some of the tension.</p><p>"Toni thought I should eat before I get scrubbed in. Said I didn't need to pass out during the C-section." Steve explains, a fond smile forming on his face like it always does when he's talking about his wife.</p><p>"Well, yeah, could you imagine the headlines if the press caught whiff of that? Big, bad Captain America can punch HYDRA agents in the face, but passes out while his wife is giving birth." Natasha continues to rags, actually managing to pull a chuckle out of Steve. That quickly changed when he saw a nurse running towards them.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Steve asks, his heart leaping to his throat when he saw the haggard look of the nurse. </p><p>"The medication we can Mrs. Stark-Rogers made the baby's heartrate drop beyond dangerously low and it's no longer rising. We're - in layman's terms - forcing the baby out vaginally. There's no longer time for a cesarean."  The nurse tells him. Steve's a little ashamed to admit that, when anger washed over his whole body, he let it slip out.</p><p>"What do you mean 'there's no time'? You said we had plenty of time!" Steve shouts, not even waiting for the nurse to answer before jumping up out of his chair and running back to Toni's room. He didn't even bother getting in the elevator, he just began running up the stairs; his mind racing along with his feet. </p><p>Steve couldn't help but think about what could be happening. How were they managing to force a baby out that wasn't even ready to come out? Is the baby even going to live once it was born? How bad has his heart gotten? How much pain was Toni in from being forced to give birth?</p><p>Steve didn't mean to startle all of the nurses and doctors in the room, but he couldn't bring himself to care when he heard Toni's cries of pain. He quickly made his way over to his wife, instantly taking her hand into his.</p><p>"I'm here. I'm here now, it's okay." Steve whispers in Toni's ear, pushing a sticky strand of hair behind her ear.</p><p>"Hurts." Toni whimpers and it wasn't until then that Steve saw the forceps. Almost as soon as he saw them he had to look away, not wanting to think to hard or too long on why there was forceps inside his wife.</p><p>"Alright, Mrs. Stark-Rogers, on the next contraction start pushing, and we'll do the rest. One of the doctors instructed. Toni just nodded in response, propping herself up on her elbows. </p><p>Steve could almost pin-point the exact moment a contraction started up, Toni's breath hitching in both pain and anticipation. As soon as the contraction peaked, Toni began pushing along with the encouraging shouts from the doctors and nurses.</p><p>This kept repeating for what felt like hours to both Toni and Steve, the doctors clearly growing frustrated from the slow progress. Toni was growing more and more exhausted as they continued, all but sobbing at this point from the pain of what the doctors were doing.</p><p>"Okay, another big push." One of the doctors say, making Toni lay back and let out a shuddering cry.</p><p>"Please stop. It hurts. Please." Toni whimpers, her breathing increasing as another contraction built up. </p><p>"Come on, one more big push. We've got a hold of the head so just another big push." </p><p>"Make them stop. Please make them stop. It's hurts." Toni begs Steve, looking over at him with tears streaming down her face. </p><p>"This isn't working! You're hurting her!" Steve shouts at the doctors, wishing that they would do something else to help.</p><p>"You need to push now!" The doctors shout at Toni, her body complying with the demand against her will. </p><p>It took two more pushes for Peter to finally join the world.</p><p>As soon as Toni saw her son in the doctor's arms she slumped back onto the bed, struggling to fight her exhaustion. She didn't want to sleep until she knew her son was alive; until she heard his little cry. Which wasn't happening.</p><p>"Why isn't he crying? Steve he's not crying, why isn't he crying?" Toni asks, forcing herself up to look at the doctors swarming around the little baby.</p><p>"No, no, no, don't let them take him away. Give him to me, let me see my son!" Toni shouts when she realizes that some of the doctors were about to walk out of the room with Peter.</p><p>"No, hey, hey, let them. Let them help him, they're going to help him." Steve tries to stop, pulling Toni into his arms so she wouldn't try to do something crazy like chase after them. "Just rest, Love. Just rest." Steve says, gently laying Toni back onto the bed.</p><p>"Just rest."</p>
<hr/><p>Toni began waking up slowly, feeling beyond sore and disorientated. She didn't even remember falling asleep in the first place; the last thing she remembered was passing the placenta and then the doctor coming in to whisper something to Steve.  </p><p>Just the thought of missing news about her son made her force her eyes open, Steve instantly going towards her side when he saw she was awake.</p><p>"Hey, you're up. How are you feeling?" Steve quietly asks, gently rubbing his hand up and down her arm.</p><p>"'M fine." Toni hoarsely replies, hesitating before asking her next question. "Is- Is he...?"</p><p>"He's alive. He's alive and doing well considering." Steve answers, Toni physically sagging as she sighed in relief. </p><p>"Where is he? Can I see him? What was wrong?" Toni rapidly questions, Steve taking a deep breath as he figured out how to answer her. </p><p>"They said he has congenital heart disease. It's something we'll have to keep an eye on as he gets older; it'll either fix itself or he'll need surgery to help fix it, it depends. For now, we just have to make sure he doesn't lay flat down." Steve explains.</p><p>"Where is he? Can I see him?" Toni repeats.</p><p>"They have him in an incubator. But, Darling, you have to remember, he was born over a month early. He's super tiny and is connected to a lot of tubes and machines. You might cry, but just remember that he's okay." Steve warns before helping Toni walk over to the incubator that was across the room.</p><p>Steve was right. As soon as Toni laid eyes on her little boy she started sobbing, more out of relief than anything; although it was tinged with a bit of fear. </p><p>"I know. I know, it's scary, but he's alive and relatively healthy considering." Steve consoles, lightly helping Toni sit down in a chair placed next to the incubator. </p><p>"Why is his head in a bubble?" Toni asks, slowly trying to regain her composure. </p><p>"It just to help keep him elevated. It keeps his heartrate from dropping again." Steve explains to her, wrapping her back in his arms. "He's okay. It's all going to be okay." </p><p>It wasn't until a month later, when her son went from three pounds to seven, passed the car seat test, and was officially discharged from the hospital that she slowly began to believe her husbands words. </p><p>
  <em>It's all going to be okay.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yeah so this actually happened to me. I'm technically not supposed to be alive right now but I'm proving the doctors wrong and have been for twenty years now haha. And again: I'm just going based on what my mom told me happened, but you gotta remember that she was probably out of it most of the time.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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